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Analyzing an Aldi Ad

Sometimes it is a good idea to design an ad that subtly brings your product into the story and have it prevalent, but not so in your face that it makes the people watching it say, “Okay, we get it. You want us to buy your stuff!” The ad that I have for you this week is one that makes it very obvious that it is about this brand, and that they really, really want you to go there, but I think this is a good example of how to do it. Aldi chose to let Ben Bailey come in and interview some of their customers, and this ad is the result of that. The ad will be down below this, and my opinion on the ad will down below that. So let’s get started, and analyze an Aldi ad.

We’ll start with the bad this week mostly because this first point was the first thing that grabbed my attention: it’s really long. The first thing I do when I check out a video on Youtube, especially when it’s an ad that they have decided I want to see, is I check out how long it is. At two minutes and fifteen seconds long, this falls into the mid range for ad length, which is long enough for me to search for the skip button most of the time. I feel that a reason that this ad is so long is that it feels unscripted, which I’m sure part of it is, but because of that there are a lot of longer pauses in it that could be taken out if it was done by professional actors. I’m not suggesting that this is the route that Aldi should have taken since I love the sincerity of this ad, but it could have helped with the length. There are also a few shots that I noticed that didn’t contribute to the ad any more than making it look like a fun place to hang out. The length gets a bad grade from me because I try to avoid ads this long, but the length is okay since it’s an enjoyable ad.

That was the only thing I found about this ad that felt like a negative to me personally. If you see something that I missed, please mention it in the comments down below, your opinion is valued here. This next point is something I harp on almost every week as being something bad, but I think Aldi did this well. Aldi managed to catch my interest in the first five seconds of this ad. I didn’t find this ad through having it pop up on a youtube video, and I didn’t find it on TV, but rather I found it in an advertising newsletter. If I had found this on Aldi, I would have watched it past the five second mark to see if the guy from the beginning would give Ben Bailey a ride to the back of the store. I can’t guarantee that I would stick around after that, although frightening people with bullhorns is entertaining, but they kept me around for the first ten seconds at least, and I saw the brand they were advertising. That’s a success in my book.

I said up above that the ad feels somewhat unscripted, and that was bad because it led to awkward pauses that added to the length, but at the same time it adds legitimacy to what is being said. These people are telling us what they really love about the store, and for the most part they are great reasons. I’m curious to know what the responses were that didn’t make it in, but this was still an ad that would make me want to shop at Aldi. (I already do shop at Aldi so I may have some bias, but they resold me on this.) This is an example of a well done testimonial type of ad, and has a celebrity endorsement in it. I’ll admit that I had no idea who Ben Bailey was before this ad, and I had to look him up to make sure he was a celebrity, but I still think he was a good choice.

This is a really fun ad, with Ben Bailey messing with people and having fun in the store. I have been to Aldi, and I know this isn’t the case, but it makes it feel like shopping at Aldi is a lot of fun, that exciting things happen all the time. Their choice of background music in this ad helps to back that up and set the mood. This ad was really enjoyable to watch, and it wasn’t nearly as annoying watching it over and over again to find all my points as it can be some weeks, so good work Aldi, you made an ad that I don’t mind watching repeatedly. Why you might ask? Because it’s funny. Its not all because of the comedian harassing people in the story, it’s legitimate responses from real customers that are making me chuckle half the time. This is the type of ad I would share with my friends because it made me laugh. (Yes, I actually share most of the ads I come across that amuse me with my friends.)

The last point I want to bring up is that Aldi did a really good job of working their brand into this ad. I know it would be hard not to considering it took place inside of one of their stores, but I still think they did a good job. The name Aldi was verbally mentioned four times in this ad, which is less than once every thirty seconds, but they had their logo and brand name pop up in the background often enough to make sure you didn’t forget who this ad was for. Compared to most ads I see where the product or brand is maybe mentioned twice, I think Aldi did a great job of letting us know who this ad is about, without making it obnoxious.

That has been my opinion on this ad, if you disagree with me or see something I may have missed, please leave it in the comments section down below. I would love to learn more about advertising through you as well, and I hope you are learning something from me. I’ll be back next week with another ad for us to analyze together, so I’ll see you all then.